"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Blowhard du Jour

I seldom mention Ann Coulter here, mostly because she's not as entertaining as the other gasbags on the right: She's basically the Rush Limbaugh Barbie, going for maximum shock value on the least amount of substance. Today, she's taking on SC Governor Nikki Haley for calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state house.

She then said that many media outlets, such as MSNBC, got the flag's history in South Carolina wrong, noting that the flag first went up at the capitol in 1962 under a Democratic governor and legislature to mark the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.

Coulter then took a shot at South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), who on Monday called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol grounds.

"I’m appalled by –– though, I really like to like Nikki Haley since she is a Republican. On the other hand, she is an immigrant and does not understand America’s history," Coulter said.

First off, in 1962, the Democratic party was still the home of the Dixiecrats, who, within in the next few years, all bolted the party and proclaimed themselves Republicans because of the Democrats' push for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Second, Nikki Haley was born in South Carolina, the daughter of Indian immigrants. So Coulter's off by a generation.

It's also worth noting that Coulter ignores the fact that Haley was joined at her press conference by SC senator Bob Corker, and that Sen. Lindsey Graham and Jeb Bush have also called for the flag to be removed. Of course, including them would tend to undercut one of Coulter's recurring themes -- immigrants are bad.

I really think this bit -- "I really like to like Nikki Haley since she is a Republican" -- reveals just how shallow Coulter is.

Oh, by the way -- we're all immigrants here, even the American Indians: there were no people on this continent 40,000 years ago.

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